Boxer Cheavon Clarke almost died twice but is now eyeing Gold Coast glory for England

Clarke will box for England at the Commonwealth GamesMark Metcalfe/Getty Images

Plenty of people at these Commonwealth Games will tell you they are lucky to be here. Few know what they are talking about quite like Cheavon Clarke.

England’s heavyweight boxing hope has twice come chillingly close to an early knockout, and not in the sort of contest where there will always be another bout.

No, Clarke’s evasion skills have been put to the test by none other than the Grim Reaper, first as an eight-year-old in his native Jamaica when he fell from a ladder and impaled himself on a metal spike.

A decade later, by which time he had moved to London, Clarke flatlined on the operating table after his appendix ruptured and flooded his system with poison. As he woke back up, the…

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